Anand retains half point lead heading into the last round (updated)

Morelia Linares round 13, report and replayable games

Round 13 results:

Vassily Ivanchuk - Vishy Anand draw
Teimour Radjabov - Alexei Shirov 1-0
Levon Aronian - Magnus Carlsen draw
Veselin Topalov - Peter Leko 1-0

Round 13 standings:

1. Vishy Anand 8.0
2. Magnus Carlsen 7.5
3-4. Levon Aronian and Veselin Topalov 7.0
5. Teimour Radjabov 6.5
6. Vassily Ivanchuk 6.0
7-8. Alexei Shirov and Peter Leko 5.0

Alexei Shirov tackled to improve a variation in the Naidorf Sicilian and it backfired at him as Teimour Radjabov trapped the wandering rook in a resolute fashion. 20...Bh4 fails the test, 20...g5, as known from earlier games, had to be played. Radjabov settles up for the loss in Morelia leg to reach 50% in the crosstable.

Vassily Ivanchuk already played Sozin Attack in the Sicilian defence, and he gives it another shot on the World Champion Vishy Anand. Anand was well prepared to exchange the pieces 'according to the book' and dismiss white's initiative. This is Anand's fifth consecutive draw, but he still remains in the tight half point lead ahead of Carlsen. Tomorrow, however, he faces tough challenge because Veselin Topalov is always playing razor sharp. Perhaps this will be Anand's chance, to patiently waits for Topalov to overstretch and grab a full point to secure the winner's trophy.

Magnus Carlsen introduced another early novelty, the brave-looking 9...Bxd5. Anything goes in the modern chess, and giving away the QID bishop was perfectly sound in this position. Black sacrificed an exchange, but managed to establish a stronghold in the center and white pieces lacked in coordination. Levon Aronian run out of constructive moves pretty soon and offered a draw. The novelty passed the initial test and we hope to see further discussion in this line. Carlsen is breathing on the neck of Vishy Anand and is set to play white against Teimour Radjabov in the last round. Radjabov won in Morelia and this could be an extra motif for Carlsen to strike back. Their game will be commented live on Chessdom.

Peter Leko is stubbornly insisting on playing Marshall Attack and Veselin Topalov had another chance to try one of the many 'Anty Systems'. Magnus Carlsen held him to a draw at Corus, but Leko went for somewhat sharper variation. After the novelty 15. Qg3, Topalov started an interesting plan where he gives the extra pawn back, in exchange for the knight outpost on e5. This piece coordinated perfectly with white pair of bishops and soon Leko found himself in defensive. Powerful central activity converted into two rooks on the 7th rank and black finally cracked under the pressure.

Goran Urosevic

Round 14 pairings:

Vishy Anand - Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko - Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen - Teimour Radjabov
Alexei Shirov - Vassily Ivanchuk

Join us on Friday at 10:00 EST / 16:00 CET for the live commentary on the last round of Morelia-Linares. See you there!